Baby Love: Professional Photographers in the Delivery Room

Ladies, I'm still wrapping my head around something I overheard at the coffee shop the other day. I was having lunch alone, trying to concentrate on my super tasty sandwich when two women sat down at the table next to me…

One of the women was a photographer and the other was noticeably pregnant. They were talking about pricing for photo packages. It sounded like they were scheduling a time for the photographer to come out and take pictures of the baby after the mother brought the little one home from the hospital. No big whoop, right? I mean, we see baby pictures all the time. Like this one:

Meet my favorite baby in the world: Kina. Her pops is going to be a groomsmen in our wedding. Isn't she such a ham?

But then, they started talking about the due date—a scheduled c-section in March. And which hospital and doctor. The photographer said something like "I've done tons of day-of shoots there. The staff is great! And I've worked with your doctor before. He is hilarious." Um, what the what?

My pedestrian overhearing turned to full-blown eavesdropping. In addition to coming out to the mother's home after the baby was born, the photographer would be in the delivery room with the mother while she gave birth! The mother wanted to pictures of the whole process. And this sort of thing sounded like the photographer's specialty.

I'd never, ever heard about this before. But it's actually gaining popularity. In fact, I told a friend (who is trying to get preggers!) about this and she said she's seriously considering it. And, she sent me a link to a blogger who has gone through with it. Jordan Ferney of Oh Happy Day recently posted a set of super heart-warming photos of the birth of her second son. Pop on over to her blog, and be sure to have a box of tissue handy. Her images are so sweet they made me all misty eyed.

We've talked about who you'll have in the delivery room with you (here and here), but a professional photographer?! Mamas, did any of you do this? If not, do you ever wish you had? Any mommies-to-be considering it? And what does everyone else think? Is this sweet way to document a huge day in your life? Or would having a stranger in the delivery room (aside from medical staff) feel odd to you?